Panthers primed for strong 2018

YELLVILLE — The Yellville-Summit Panthers posted four victories, took a No. 4 playoff seed, and surprised many people in coach Lucas Morris's first season at the school last year.

Bringing back a stout receiving corps, experienced linemen and their first complete summer under Morris, the Panthers are hungry for more in 2018.

The first three dates on Yellville-Summit's schedule have the makings of close, competitive football games.

The Panthers travel to Green Forest, host Salem and travel to Berryville for their three nonconference games this season.

“I like our nonconference," Morris said. "I think it’s three teams we can be competitive with. The Green Forest game, last year, we got them down by a couple touchdowns and they hung their heads a bit. I don’t think the score was an indication of how close that game was. I don’t think we ever felt comfortable during that game.

“The Salem game was one of those where we were getting ready to crawl over the hump," he continued. "We were starting to understand the offense and defense. It was about two weeks later when we got to Greenland that we started playing a lot better.”

Morris said all three games could come down to a few plays.

“(Berryville) is an option team," he said. "Green Forest and Berryville are big rivals, and now they’re going into the same conference. I think all three of our games could go either way. I hate to throw a ‘gimmie’ game on the board. Last year, we threw six games on the board and thought we could be competitive in those six. We won four of those six and were competitive in five.”

The Panthers transition to the 3A-2 Conference, which includes playing three new teams. Yellville-Summit will once again play against Clinton, Melbourne, Mountain View and Marshall in conference play.

“Melbourne came out and took it to us last year," Morris said. "Coach (Kevin) McCarn does a really good job. The previous year they had beaten them 19-12 or something, but they came out and threw 40 on us. Their young quarterback had underthrown everything on film, so we lined up and made them throw it deep. He threw every ball right on the money.

"Against Melbourne, we just didn’t get off the bus," he added. "Coach McCarn worked with (West Memphis) coach (Billy) Elmore, and I worked with coach Elmore, so we run a lot of the same stuff. We believe in what we’re doing.”

Traditional powerhouse Harding Academy has been added to the league, along with Cedar Ridge and Rose Bud. Rose Bud has already cancelled its season due to low numbers, so the Panthers have added a fourth nonconference game Oct. 5 when they travel to Rector.

Morris doesn't mind the six road games this season, which include both Clinton and Melbourne.

“In turn, we get six home games next year," he explained. “Last year against Clinton, we threw up 330 yards of offense on them. We had two fumbles on the 10-yard line, two fumbles on the 20-yard line. We had two interceptions. We gave them the ball five times, and they still had starters on the field in the fourth quarter. Our kids never gave up. We just couldn’t finish."

The Panthers face what could be the toughest three teams on their schedule in a four-week span.

"Melbourne, Harding Academy and Clinton are all top 10 teams in the state," Morris said. "It’s the beginning of our conference play. Say we only win one of those first three nonconference games, if we lose those three conference games, we’re 1-5. We have to find a way to keep our heads up if something doesn’t go the way we want it to. Because those last three games, we definitely feel like we will be competitive in.”